IDE setup question... 1

[derdeb]

Can someone explain to me the correct IDE master/slave setup for:

a)one SATA HD
b)one 3.5 Floppy
c)one CDRW-ROM

My Motherboard is:

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=652

I believe it's supposed to be:

Hard drive on IDE0 - Master
Floppy on IDE0 - Slave
CDRW-ROM on IDE1 - Master

 

[cdogg]

a) An SATA drive connects directly to the motherboard through an SATA connector. It doesn't use IDE. No master or slave setting needed.

b) 3.5 Floppy has its own controller on the motherboard too. It's cable is about half as wide as an IDE cable. No master or slave setting needed.

c) You can take your pick with the CD-RW drive. It can go as Master on either IDE channel. Just make sure you use the "end" connector on the IDE cable, not the middle one which is reserved for slave drives.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[derdeb]

Ah, I see. I probably would have figured that out when I looked at my MB (first time building a comp).

I remember hearing a while back that you shouldn't connect anything to the IDE0 port. Is there any merit to this?

 

[cdogg]

It shouldn't matter. My PC for example has an MSI motherboard too with an SATA drive and two optical devices - DVD Writer connected to IDE0 as Master, and DVD-ROM drive connected to IDE1 as master. I have no problems with it.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[PRPhx]

Why would you want to give up a channel. That what they are used for. And if your going to mix and max devices on a chain, ALWAYS make the faster device the master, the slower device the slave (i.e. The hard drive is always faster than a cd or dvd, so the HD is ALWAYS the master.

 

[cdogg]

PRPhx,
It is a common myth that it matters which device is master and which is slave. The only difference between the two is position on the cable, and that one is addressed first over the other when it comes to drive letters.

Speed is not a factor when comparing the two.

Also in my case, I had no other IDE devices in the system which is why I gave both their own IDE channel.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[kmcferrin]

The thing about not using IDE0 is crazy. If you shouldn't use it then they wouldn't have them.

Regarding various speed devices, it used to be true that the IDE interface for a given channel would only communicate in the slowest common speed of the devices on the channel. In other words, it you put an ATA33 device on the same IDE channel as an ATA66 device, then both devices would communicate at ATA33 speeds. That's why hard disks are typically on the first channel and CD-ROMs typically are on the second channel (hard disks typically have higher interface speeds than CD-ROMs). I don't know if this still holds true for modern IDE devices, but I know of no reason why this would have changed.

However, as stated previously, the master/slave relationship has nothing to do with device speed. One device isn't subservient to the other or anything, and many manufacturers now use the more politically correct labels "primary and secondary" or "first and second".

 

[cdogg]

kmcferrin,
Actually, there was a modification made to UDMA back in 1997 (before ATA/66 I believe even came out). The specification introduced was called independent device timing (IDT). IDT allows for ATA/33, ATA/66, and any other UDMA device to communicate at different speeds than the other device sharing the same channel. So, an ATA/33 CD-ROM would not force an ATA/100 hard drive to run at ATA/33 speeds. Windows XP shows this feature under Advanced Settings for the IDE channel. You can see how some devices run at UDMA mode 2 and others at UDMA mode 5 on the same channel.

Pretty much any device or motherboard manufactured after 1998 should support this. That would include PII and most Athlon K6-2 systems (and later releases of course).

http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/if/ide/confTiming.html

The slowness you're talking about is probably what's mentioned in this article (it has nothing to do with the ATA mode, but instead is the type of device).

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/A7A424BEEE8CD6F2CA256DBA0016A3E8

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884